Evacuations Underway in California as Blazing Wildfire Continues

California firefighters are battling an uncontrollable wildfire that is rapidly spreading.

Wildfire / Unsplash

An uncontrollable wildfire has been destroying homes in Ventura County, Southern California over the past few days. The fire began on Wednesday morning and has rapidly spread, causing mass evacuation orders for nearly 14,000 people and has threatened roughly 3,500 homes and businesses.

Due to the high intensity of the winds, the Mountain Fire has been unmanageable. Currently, more than 14,100 acres of land have been destroyed, with 0% being contained as of Thursday morning. Initially, the winds reached 60 mph but have since lessened to 30 to 50mph. It is believed that winds will decrease this evening and are expected to be between 25 and 30 mph.

"Every helicopter, every fixed wing aircraft, everything we've been able to get a hold of is here fighting this fire," said Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner. He stated that federal funding will be provided to help fight the fire.

The fire began around 8:50 a.m. near Balcom Canyon Road and Bradley Road on South Mountain. According to AP News, in just under five hours, the fire grew from less than half of a square mile to over 16 square miles. On Thursday morning, the fire was reported to have reached 22 square miles.

Andrew Dowd, firefighter in Ventura, stated. "Our number one priority here at Ventura County Fire, in running this incident, is life safety. We're urging all residents that are in the affected areas to make sure that they're heeding evacuation orders. That's our number one priority."

According to VCFD Captain Anthony McHale, this fire is particularly dangerous because it is wind-driven, causing flames to continuously evolve.

"That can present challenges, and of course, in some cases depending on the dynamics of the winds, those embers can be carried long distances, starting spot fires in receptive fuel beds and structures that might be in the area," McHale stated.

Approximately 800 firefighters are working through the day and night to stop the fire, which has caused hospitalizations due to smoke inhalation. An interactive map of the wildfire zone can be found on the Cal Fire website, as can the updated evacuation orders.